Press Release - Federal IT experts need to lead development of new pay system to replace Phoenix, says PIPSC

Ottawa, April 17, 2018 – In a live town hall exchange today with members of the second-largest union of federal employees, PIPSC President Debi Daviau urged members to demand the government’s ministerial working group on Phoenix engage federal IT workers “at every stage” in building a new system.

“The government can't expect public servants to wait seven or eight more years before we get rid of Phoenix,” said Daviau. “Public service professionals are ready to lead the development of a functioning system.”

“The Phoenix fiasco is a direct result of wholesale contracting out – of choosing to completely bypass the skills and know-how of our professional public service,” said Daviau.

Last fall, PIPSC called on the government to forget Phoenix – configured by IBM Canada – and to replace it with a new system that works. In February, the government committed $16 million over two years to finding a replacement but says it will take up to a further six years to implement.

“We have been through two years of not being paid properly and they are asking us to potentially wait another six years,” added Daviau. “The answer can only be absolutely no. We will not wait that long.”

PIPSC maintains that, given the chance, federal IT professionals could significantly reduce the time needed to introduce a new system.

“We need to ensure the government is looking at every option available and that our IT community is engaged at every stage,” concluded Daviau.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents approximately 55,000 public service professionals across Canada, including some 13,000 IT experts, most of them employed by the federal government.